American Crow

American Crow - Spec. Name: Corvus brachyrhynchos

This is a large passerine bird species of the family Corvidae. It is a common bird found throughout much of North America. In the interior of the continent south of the Arctic, it is simply called "the crow", as no other such birds occur there on any regular basis.

American Crow

It is one of several species of corvid that are entirely black, though it can be distinguished from the other two such birds in its range—from the Common Raven (C. corax) by size and behavior and from the Fish Crow (C. ossifragus) by call (but seebelow). It is also distinguished from the Raven by its smaller, more curved bill than the parallell bill of the raven, and its squared tail.
American Crows are common, widespread and adaptable, but they are highly susceptible to the West Nile Virus. They are monitored as a bioindicator. Direct transmission of the virus from American Crows to humans is not recorded to date, and in any case not considered likely.

The American Crow is a distinctive bird with iridescent black feathers all over. Its legs, feet and bill are also black. They are 40–50 cm (16–20 in) in length, of which the tail makes up about 40%. Each wing is around 27–34 cm (11–14 in) long. The bill length is on average 5 cm (2 in), varying strongly according to location.[4] Males tend to be larger than females.
The most usual call is a loud, short, and rapid caaw-caaw-caaw. Usually, the birds thrust their heads up and down as they utter this call. American Crows can also produce a wide variety of sounds and sometimes mimic noises made by other animals, including other birds.

Visual differentiation from the Fish Crow (C. ossifragus) is extremely difficult and often inaccurate. Nonetheless, differences apart from size do exist. Fish Crows tend to have more slender bills and feet. There may also be a small sharp hook at the end of the upper bill. Fish Crows also appear as if they have shorter legs when walking. More dramatically, when calling, Fish Crows tend to hunch and fluff their throat feathers.
If seen flying at a distance from where size estimates are unreliable, the distinctly larger Common Ravens (C. corax) can be distinguished by their almost lozenge-shaped tail, their larger-looking heads and of course their strongly solitary habits. They also fluff their throat feathers when calling like Fish Crows, only more so.
Most wild American Crows live for about 7–8 years. Captive birds are known to have lived up to 30 years.

Distribution and habitat
The range of the American Crow extends from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean in Canada, on the French islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, south through the United States, and into northern Mexico. Virtually all types of country from wilderness, farmland, parks, open woodland to towns and major cities are inhabited; it is absent only from Pacific temperate rain forests and tundra habitat where it is replaced by the raven. This crow is a permanent resident in most of the USA, but most Canadian birds migrate some distances southward in winter. Outside of the nesting season these birds often gather in large communal roosts at night.

The American Crow was recorded in Bermuda from 1876 onwards.

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Parakeet

Parakeet - Spec.Name: Psitacula Eupatria

The term Grass Parakeet (or Grasskeet) refers to a large number of small temp Australian parakeets native to grasslands such as Neophema and Princess Parrot. The Australian rosellas are also parakeets. Many of the smaller, long-tailed species of lories may be referred to as lorikeets.

The term Ringnecked Parakeet refers to a species of the Psittacula genus native to Africa and Asia that is popular as a pet and has become feral in many cities. It should not be confused with the Australian Ringneck.

In aviculture the term conure is used for small to medium sized parakeets of the genera Aratinga, Pyrrhura, and a few other genere of the tribe Arini, which are mainly endemic to South America. As they are not all from one genus, taxonomists tend to dislike the term.
Other South American species commonly called parakeets include the Brotogeris parakeets, Monk Parakeet and Lineolated Parakeets (although Lineolated Parakeets have short tails).
Some species, especially the larger parakeets, may be referred to as "parrot" or "parakeet" interchangeably. For example, Alexandrine Parrot and Alexandrine Parakeet are different names for the same species, (Psittacula eupatria), one of the largest species called a parakeet.

Many different species of parakeets are often bred and sold commercially as pets, the Budgerigar being among the most commonly sold in the U.S.

Breeding
Originally, parakeets were only available in shades of yellow and green; the albino lutino, a yellow bird with pink eyes and white cheeks, appeared only as a mutation. Albinos are genetic mutations, unpredictable and unplannable for in breeding.

The blue-and-white color combinations arise when the gene for color is double-recessive. The gene for blue is "hidden" in the green gene, if it is present, and there is no way to know for sure until the birds are mated. There is no way to tell if a green parakeet's color genes are both green, or if the green bird has one green and one hidden blue gene. Therefore, it is difficult to get blue parakeets from green ones. It is not possible to get green parakeets from blue ones. Once a pair of blues is mated, that color is the only one that will be produced, with some hue variations. If you were to mate a blue parakeet with a green one, though, the results could be either green or blue.
Once the blues had initially grown in population and popularity, they were bred with the green-yellow birds, producing even more color variations, including multicolors, lighter-colored stripes (cinnamons), and shades of gray mixed with both colors. With an understanding of genetics, breeders have been able to generate parakeets in almost every imaginable color combination, producing an unlimited number of colorful birds.

Brown-headed Nuthatch

Brown-headed Nuthatch - Spec. Name: Sitta Pusilla

Brown-headed Nuthatch

This is a small (approximately 3.5 in/8.9 cm in length) songbird found in pine forests throughout the Southeastern United States. An endangered population occurs in the pineyards of Grand Bahama; some authorities consider it to represent a separate species, S. insularis. The bird, like other nuthatches, possesses a sharp black nail-like beak, which it uses to pound open seeds. It is a frequent visitor to feeding stations and is highly fond of sunflower seeds and suet cakes.

Bold and inquisitive, this bird is readily approachable by humans. The bird is frequently observed using a small chip of bark held in its beak as a tool to dig for insects.

This species of nuthatch sports a brown cap with narrow black eyeline and buff white cheeks, chin, and belly. Its wings are bluish-gray in color. A small white spot is found at the nape of the neck. The bird's call is a sharp whee-hyah sounding very similar to a "rubber duck" toy and particularly is loud for a bird its size. They also make softer "pit pit pit" calls while in flight as well as other squeaking noises.

The Brown-headed and Pygmy Nuthatch are nearly identically in appearance, but have vastly different ranges with the Pygmy being confined to coastal central California. Both have short tails, large heads, and long bills on body lengths of 4.25 inches. They are smaller than the commonly occurring White-breasted Nuthatch. The Brown-headed sports a brownish cap with a large white spot on its nape; the Pygmy's cap is more grayish brown. The Brown-headed Nuthatch gives a high sharp, nasal two-syllable vocalization, often followed by a rapid series of lower nasal notes.

A characteristic bird of the pine forests of the southeastern U.S. The species historically nested as far north as southeastern Missouri but now only occurs as far north as northeastern Texas, middle Tennessee, and eastward into far southern Pennsylvania. Highest breeding densities are in western South Carolina and Georgia, central Florida, and southern Mississippi. Audubon Important Bird Areas (IBA) that support Brown-headed Nuthatch includes North Carolina's Sandhills East IBA and Sandhills West IBA.

Numbers are declining throughout its range. Breeding Bird Surveys in southeastern North America from 1966 through 2001, show a statistically significant annual population decline of 2.2 percent. Populations on Grand Bahama Island are nearly gone, probably due to extensive logging; and southern Florida has also lost substantial numbers of this species.

Almost exclusively breeds in southeastern pine forest habitats; loblolly-shortleaf pines and longleaf-slash pines appear to hold the highest numbers. The bird requires snags (standing dead trees) for nesting and roosting; but forages on live pines. It is more abundant in older pine stands compared with younger stands as well as burned stands. Nesting includes excavating cavities in trees, most commonly between February and April. Incubation lasts two weeks. Young fledge 18 to 19 days. The bird subsists on bark-dwelling cockroaches, beetles, and spiders in the warmer months and various arthropods and pine seeds when it's colder.

This non-migratory species generally does not disperse far from its breeding range; although widespread decline in pine seed crops one season may force birds to extend their range. One of few species of passerines known to use tools; the nuthatch finds loose bark flakes to pry attached flakes where insects are hiding.

Dancing Birds of Paradise-Wild Indonesia

This wonderful video of such beautiful birds is a must see. I'd hope you agree with me.

Video © BBC